See also: List of English districts by population.
| Rank | County | Population | Type
|
| 1
| Greater London
| 7,172,000
|
|
| 2
| West Midlands
| 2,555,592
| metropolitan county
|
| 3
| Greater Manchester
| 2,482,328
| metropolitan county
|
| 4
| West Yorkshire
| 2,079,211
| metropolitan county
|
| 5
| Merseyside
| 1,362,026
| metropolitan county
|
| 6
| Kent
| 1,329,718
| two-tier
|
| 7
| Essex
| 1,310,835
| two-tier
|
| 8
| South Yorkshire
| 1,266,338
| metropolitan county
|
| 9
| Hampshire
| 1,240,103
| two-tier
|
| 10
| Lancashire
| 1,134,974
| two-tier
|
| 11
| Tyne and Wear
| 1,075,938
| metropolitan county
|
| 12
| Surrey
| 1,059,015
| two-tier
|
| 13
| Hertfordshire
| 1,033,977
| two-tier
|
| 14
| Staffordshire
| 806,744
| two-tier
|
| 15
| Berkshire
| 800,118
| two-tier
|
| 16
| Nottinghamshire
| 748,510
| two-tier
|
| 17
| Derbyshire
| 734,585
| two-tier
|
| 18
| Norfolk
| 796,728
| two-tier
|
| 19
| West Sussex
| 753,614
| two-tier
|
| 20
| Devon
| 704,493
| two-tier
|
| 21
| Cheshire
| 673,788
| two-tier
|
| 22
| Suffolk
| 668,553
| two-tier
|
| 23
| Lincolnshire
| 646,645
| two-tier
|
| 24
| Leicestershire
| 609,578
| two-tier
|
| 25
| Oxfordshire
| 605,488
| two-tier
|
| 26
| Northamptonshire
| 629,676
| two-tier
|
| 27
| North Yorkshire
| 569,660
| two-tier
|
| 28
| Gloucestershire
| 564,559
| two-tier
|
| 29
| Cambridgeshire
| 552,658
| two-tier
|
| 30
| Worcestershire
| 542,107
| two-tier
|
| 31
| Warwickshire
| 505,860
| two-tier
|
| 32
| Cornwall (inc Scilly)
| 501,267
| two-tier
|
| 33
| Somerset
| 498,093
| two-tier
|
| 34
| Durham
| 493,470
| two-tier
|
| 35
| East Sussex
| 492,324
| two-tier
|
| 36
| Cumbria
| 487,607
| two-tier
|
| 37
| Buckinghamshire
| 479,026
| two-tier
|
| 38
| Wiltshire
| 432,973
| two-tier
|
| 39
| Dorset
| 390,980
| two-tier
|
| 40
| Bedfordshire
| 381,572
| two-tier
|
| 41
| East Riding of Yorkshire
| 314,113
| unitary
|
| 42
| Northumberland
| 307,190
| two-tier
|
| 43
| Leicester
| 279,921
| unitary
|
| 44
| Nottingham
| 266,988
| unitary
|
| 45
| Medway
| 249,488
| unitary
|
| 46
| Bristol
| 380,615
| unitary
|
| 47
| Shropshire
| 283,173
| two-tier
|
| 48
| Brighton
| 247,817
| unitary
|
| 49
| Hull
| 243,589
| unitary
|
| 50
| South Gloucestershire
| 245,641
| unitary
|
| 51
| Plymouth
| 240,720
| unitary
|
| 52
| Stoke
| 240,636
| unitary
|
| 53
| Derby
| 221,708
| unitary
|
| 54
| Southampton
| 217,445
| unitary
|
| 55
| Milton Keynes
| 207,057
| unitary
|
| 56
| North Somerset
| 188,564
| unitary
|
| 57
| Portsmouth
| 186,701
| unitary
|
| 58
| Luton
| 184,371
| unitary
|
| 59
| York
| 181,094
| unitary
|
| 60
| Swindon
| 180,051
| unitary
|
| 61
| Stockton on Tees
| 178,408
| unitary
|
| 62
| Herefordshire
| 174,871
| unitary
|
| 63
| Bath and North East Somerset
| 169,040
| unitary
|
| 64
| Bournemouth
| 163,444
| unitary
|
| 65
| Southend-on-Sea
| 160,257
| unitary
|
| 66
| Telford and Wrekin
| 158,325
| unitary
|
| 67
| North East Lincolnshire
| 157,979
| unitary
|
| 68
| Peterborough
| 156,061
| unitary
|
| 69
| North Lincolnshire
| 152,849
| unitary
|
| 70
| Thurrock
| 143,128
| unitary
|
| 71
| Blackpool
| 142,283
| unitary
|
| 72
| Redcar and Cleveland
| 139,132
| unitary
|
| 73
| Poole
| 138,288
| unitary
|
| 74
| Blackburn with Darwen
| 137,470
| unitary
|
| 75
| Middlesbrough
| 134,855
| unitary
|
| 76
| Isle of Wight
| 132,731
| unitary
|
| 77
| Torbay
| 129,706
| unitary
|
| 78
| Halton
| 118,208
| unitary
|
| 79
| Darlington
| 97,838
| unitary
|
| 80
| Hartlepool
| 88,611
| unitary
|
| 81
| Rutland
| 34,563
| unitary
|
